[ Fuzzy Memory ] Seeking Childhood Computer Toy
April 18th, 2008 by Benj Edwards
Often we yearn to reclaim fond memories from childhood, but those memories remain just out of reach. Sometimes the event or object we’re seeking happened so long ago that our recollections have become foggy or even distorted over time.
Well, in a way, that’s why I’m here. As a historian, I like to help people reconnect with and rediscover the past. I regularly receive emails from people looking for information on games, toys, or computers that they haven’t seen in years. Last week, I found another such email waiting in my inbox that left me stumped. That’s why I’m turning to you, my wonderful readers, for help in solving the mystery.
The Mystery of the Toy Computer
A friendly fellow named Gowan McGland seeks help in identifying a childhood computer toy. He writes of his dilemma:
I remember as a kid in the late 1970s, perhaps early 1980s having a little computer kind of thing. It was all-in-one. I seem to recall it was blue and gray. It had a keyboard. The keyboard portion then had a neck that went to the display. The display was a rounded “head” with LED bulbs somewhat akin to LiteBrite pegs. I think there were overlays you could put over the bulbs. I remember you could play some games with it and you could also do little simple animations. You could program the LEDs to light up in sequences and then the device would replay the sequences in order and animate whatever you had “drawn” with the LEDs. It came completely assembled to the best of my recollection.
I have no idea what it was called. I honestly have no idea how to search for it online since my recollection is vague at best.
Anyone have any idea what I’m talking about?
So, here we pick up some key clues: (a) it was probably manufactured around 1978-1983; (b) it used large LEDs for a display; (c) it was programmable; (c) it had a keyboard; and (d) it didn’t come in kit form. The other details might be hazy, so it’s best to go with the basic elements first.
You have to remember that many details of a person’s memory can be inaccurate, so if something matches the description 70-80%, it might very well be the item we’re looking for.
Police Sketch
Gowan included a sketch of the device, which you can see below.
I’m clearly not an artist, but here’s some indication of what the device looked like. It’s not to scale and the number of buttons and lights is highly inaccurate, but it’s the best my 30-some-year memory can do.
So far Gowan says that he’s ruled out the Alphie, the VTech PreComputer 1000, the Talking Whiz Kid, and the Computron.
So what do you guys think? Any ideas? If so, please leave a comment on this post. Gowan will be checking out your responses, so he might be able to clarify some things if needed. The game is afoot!
Update: 04/20/2008
Success! Thanks to the help of our intrepid readership and Ed Kearn, we now have a picture of the T.E.A.M.M.A.T.E. computer:
Special thanks goes to Ed for sending it our way. He writes:
Benj, I did find a photo–attached. Feel free to share it. I’m afraid I’ve got that packed away in storage and can’t get my hands on it easily–or I’d try to get more info for you. Don’t remember much about it–just bought it on eBay in 2000.
According to the box in the picture, T.E.A.M.M.A.T.E. stands for “Total Electronic Advanced Microprocessing Maneuvers and Tactics Equipment.” Quite a mouthful, eh?
Thanks to Layne, we know that a company called “Logix” released the T.E.A.M.M.A.T.E. around 1980. We also know that, sadly, the unit wasn’t truly programmable (according to Consumer Reports). Still, I’d love to take a peek inside the T.E.A.M.M.A.T.E. and find out what makes it tick.
For the latest developments, check the comments below.
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Have a memory of a computer, video game, or electronic toy you need help identifying? Send me an email describing your memories in detail. Hopefully, the collective genius of the VC&G readership can help solve your mystery.
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April 18th, 2008 at 8:54 pm
This was the T.E.A.M.M.A.T.E. computer, one of which I received for Christmas in the early 80s. I remember that I actually liked it, even though it was pretty limited (programming letters like a scoreboard was kinda fun). I also remember they had a program you could type in to predict the weather using one of the overlays you put over the LEDs (basically just a random generator).
Good memories!!
April 18th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
Awesome, Cozmo. That really sounds like it could be it. Can anybody find a picture of the T.E.A.M.M.A.T.E. unit?
Via the magic of Google, I found this sole description of the TEAMMATE computer on a comic book blog by Adam Barnett:
This thing sounds really interesting and I’ve never heard of it before. Anybody have more info? What company produced it?
April 18th, 2008 at 11:19 pm
Guess that guy really didn’t like it! It was meant to be for me since I liked to program the TEAMMATE even though I couldn’t see any input, aside from maybe some blinking lights, and I was 9 or 10 years old at the time (and still programming 25+ years later).
I wish I could remember who made it, but information on the web seems exceedingly scarce.
April 19th, 2008 at 10:03 am
What(s) year are we talking about here, Cozmo? I’m interested to know when this device came out.
April 19th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
The T.E.A.M.M.A.T.E. isn’t on old computers, either.
April 19th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
old-computers.com i mean
April 19th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
I’m thinking I got this in 1982…next time I’m at my grandparents I’ll have to go through the old Christmas pictures.
In researching this on the web, I did find that the Topeka Computing Museum apparently has one on exhibit. Goto http://www.gateman.com/museum/ and click on the “K=Kids Computers” section…but there is no picture. The do have a picture of the “Quiz Whiz” though, which I also had!
Maybe you can call them up and get more info?!
April 19th, 2008 at 9:42 pm
Taking the search a different direction, I found the Consumer Reports article. It provides a few more clues that might help locate a picture of the TEAMMATE.
http://handheldmuseum.com/BooksMagazines/Mag-CR_1180/CR1180_07.htm
So, the company name is Logix. That didn’t really help the searching, but I did find some other old toys that gave us the full name (and I’m providing the link because I’m sure there are plenty of people here that will enjoy the site: http://www.samstoybox.com/toys/LogixComputer.html
Searching for Logix Enterprises leads me to a page where trading was halted for the company in Oct of 2002, and I can’t find any company web page, so I assume they went out of business shortly after that.
I’ll keep looking, but that might help someone else, so I thought I’d share.
Layne
April 19th, 2008 at 10:01 pm
So, I came across this link…..I’m going through several of the links there to see if anything turns up.
Layne
April 19th, 2008 at 10:10 pm
Well, this could be an interesting approach to finding an image…..
eBay Link
April 20th, 2008 at 10:17 am
Excellent work, Layne. I just posted an update to the entry above — Ed Kearn sent me a picture of the unit. Now we have to hear from Gowan and see if the T.E.A.M.M.A.T.E. is truly what he was remembering.
April 20th, 2008 at 11:06 am
That’s it! That’s it!
Thank you everyone for your efforts. This has been knocking around in my mind for a couple of years now and I was actually starting to think that I might have imagined the whole thing.
It’s interesting to see how accurate my memory was. Guess I’m not all that forgetful after all.
Again, thank you everybody. One of life’s little nagging mysteries solved!
April 20th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
Awesome!! I had forgotten that there is basically a 2 or 3 digit (I think) hex display that also shows various things while “programming”.
After Layne suggested the ebay link, I went searching for old catalogs online, as I think I remember seeing this in a JC Penney catalog or something. It was fun going through the web site “wishbookweb”, which has a bunch of old catalogs…you can see a lot of early electronic “computers” and games from the 70s and 80s, and even some cool early home robots.
Thanks for the nostalgia!
April 22nd, 2008 at 10:47 am
Excellent work everybody — looks like you solved the mystery.
If anyone else has a fuzzy memory they need investigated, send me an email and I’ll use it in a future Fuzzy Memory column.
May 3rd, 2008 at 9:12 am
I’ve been looking for a photo of this computer for a LONG time now, so thanks for that!
P3-8E-P1 sticks in my head for some reason. Can someone with the T.E.A.M.M.A.T.E. let me know what that does?
We had one of these in Junior High School (around 1979/1980) and I’d like to have one myself.